Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Change of Scenery

Often a patient will be presenting with some type of dysfunction or pain and have apprehension about going on a trip/vacation that they have had planned for awhile.  It usually goes two ways, they have almost no pain or they have very little pain.

They come back and some of the old issues start to reflare or they notice them again.  What this tells me is that the vacation made them change their old habits.  They moved more or less, ran differently, changed a workout up or simply had less stress.

Pain can get engrained with certain movements that we have learned to recognize and guard.  Often times changing environments doesn't bring the stress of the "normal" and actually changes how you move.  Even slight changes are different joint positions and muscular vectors.

So if you are dealing with something and notice that it wasn't as bad on a trip or vacation.  Start to try to change up your work environment or workout routine or both.  Simple things like changing seat height, shoes, micro movement breaks, isometrics at the desk, answering the phone differently can all add up to different patterns and can hopefully bring you some relief.

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